Stuart Dunn, the CQC deputy director of operations in the East of England, said inspectors were “concerned to find leaders at 439 Ipswich Road weren’t always acting quickly on safety concerns raised by their staff or the people in their care, although they did respond quickly when we raised them”.
“Staff had reported safeguarding incidents affecting people’s physical or sexual safety, but leaders hadn’t thoroughly investigated or reported them to the local authority or CQC,” he added.
“Because they failed to do so, they didn’t learn from them or make changes, which left some people at risk of repeated harm.”
EPUT’s rating as a whole remains as “requires improvement”. The trust has been the subject of the UK’s first public inquiry into mental health deaths, which is due to hear pre-recorded evidence sessions from 20 April.
The trust’s chief executive, Paul Scott, said: “We welcome the CQC’s feedback and are committed to working with them as we continue to focus on the transformation of our mental health services to ensure all patients receive the consistently high quality and therapeutic care they deserve.”